Professor testifying about loss of rural stores

MANHATTAN — The lure of potential savings at big-box stores is considered a factor in the closing of local grocery stores, and particularly the closing of rural grocery stores.

Such stores often are located 20 or more miles from a rural community, and while the cost to drive and value of time on the road can erode savings, what happens when roads close?

To put it in perspective, David Procter, director of Kansas State University’s Center for Engagement and Community Development, cited the example of Walsh, Colo., population 650, and a community in which the local grocery store had closed. Procter has been invited to testify before the U.S. Senate Hunger Caucus on Thursday in Washington, D.C.

“The inability to access food during the storms prompted residents to make re-establishing a local grocery store a priority,” said Procter, who reported that residents organized, sold shares to raise capital to re-establish a local grocery, and made a commitment to shop locally.

“The Walsh, Colo., grocery is a success story, yet many communities are struggling to find a solution that will work for them,” Procter said.

He testified before a U.S. House of Representatives Caucus on Hunger in 2009. Procter, a former speech professor and head of the speech department, was tapped to head K-State’s center in 1996 and charged with matching resources and expertise at the university to community needs throughout the state.

The decline in local grocery stores has been gradual, and the plight of the local grocery store has become a key issue, he said.

Since 2006, Procter said 82 of 213 Kansas communities with populations of 2,500 or less have lost their local grocery store.

The problem isn’t unique to Kansas, said Procter, who served as a driving force in organizing a 2010 Rural Grocery Store Summit that attracted more than 200 participants representing 13 states.

Local grocery stores typically anchor community businesses, said Procter, who noted that while the lure of big-box stores and a more mobile society are factors, changes in food distribution requirements (a minimum weekly order of $10,000 to $12,000 is an example), operational costs of older buildings with less efficient heating and cooling systems, a limited labor force, and owners who burn out also are factors.

“Meeting the distribution requirements is a huge challenge,” said Procter, who praised tiny Gove, population 125, for coming up with a can-do idea that is allowing their store to thrive and also supporting small stores in nearby communities.